Insufferable
by A Bullfrog's Worst Nightmare
Summary: "Would you look at that, Weasley. Looks like you're going to be stuck with me forever," said the haughty voice of Scorpius Malfoy. "You're going to love being my wife! You get to bring me dinner and warm my bed for me."
1. Chapter 1

_Written for the Soulmates Competition from the HPFC. Set in Stone option. All feedback is welcomed and appreciated._

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><p>It was a warm summer afternoon and I had just adjusted my hair for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past hour. Normally I wouldn't care this much about my appearance but it could've been <em>the <em>day. The last thing I wanted was to meet my match after all this time with my hair looking as though a small animal nested inside it.

My arm was outstretched and my hand was tightly clutched around the grip of my wand and my hand was beginning to feel sweaty for holding it like that for so long. I couldn't take any chances with letting my guard down, this event only came once a year and this was my seventh year in a row coming to this stupid thing and I wanted to get this over as soon as I could. I was the last child of the Weasley/Potter clan who didn't have their match yet. My younger brother found his the second time he came to this event and I still haven't heard the last of that.

The crowd was thick and it was difficult to weave through it without constantly getting bumped into. The chatter amongst the people was deafening and I could barely hear myself think, much less eavesdrop on the conversations on the newly found matches. Every once in a while, I'd catch the sight of a faint glow coming from a wand right beside me and my heart would stop for a moment. Only for a moment though, because as quickly as it happened did I realize that they were not my match and I was met with a new sight of a happy embracing couple.

_As of June 2000, all wands are made in pairs. Every year from this point forward, an event will take place in the center of Diagon Alley where the wand wielders may search for their match. Matching wands will glow when they have sensed their partner is near on this day and on this day only. Wand Wielders of matching wands are considered soulmates and each other's other half. The wands are never wrong. _

Almost everyone in the Wizarding world had that excerpt memorized. What if I didn't have a soulmate? No, that's stupid, Rose, everyone has a soulmate. Maybe mine got lost or didn't want to show up this year or has given up on finding me. These were the same anxiety induced thoughts that filled my head every year when I would end up coming home without a soulmate.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice my wand begin to light up just as I collided hard into the person in front of me. The impact caused me to hit the ground, arse first. There was no pain at first, but a slowly throbbing made its presence known. It happened so fast, I felt disorientated and it took a few moments before I realized what had happened. What a great way to meet your soulmate. Crash right into them and make a downright fool of yourself. Lovely.

The excitement of finally knowing who my soulmate was compelled me to ignore the pain in my backside and look up. My stomach felt like it was twisting itself into a pretzel shape and my heart was racing. Then everything came to a halt. My heart stopped, my breathing stopped, the world had stopped.

It couldn't have been him. There was no way.

"Would you look at that, Weasley. Looks like you're going to be stuck with me forever," said the haughty voice of Scorpius Malfoy. He had the obnoxious, trademark Malfoy smirk drawn on his face and I could feel all my excitement vanish.

Malfoy towered over me, his head blocked out the sun and I was still sitting on the ground, at his feet, in his shadow, feeling nothing but utter disappointment. The wands were never wrong.

I didn't think he was going to be jumping up at the opportunity to help me onto my feet and whisk me away into the sunset, so I finally got over the initial shock enough to lift myself off the ground. In an attempt to keep the tiny glimmers of hope that lingered behind, I glanced around Malfoy to see if there was anyone there. There was no one. No one but me and Malfoy and two glowing wands that have our fates sealed.

"You're going to love being my wife," he continued after I stood up. "You get to bring me dinner and warm my bed for me."

The tightness in my chest soon grew more painful than the pain in my arse. With each unpleasant remark he made about our future marriage, I could feel my throat close up more and more. The thought of being with Malfoy sexually and bringing him food made me nauseous and I was suddenly afraid of puking right at his feet.

"Are you even listening to me?" Malfoy asked, realizing that I haven't been paying any attention to his disgusting planning. "Are you going to say something, or am I going to have a mute as a wife?"

"Shove off, Malfoy!" I shouted and roughly pushed past him.

I didn't even look back at him as I shoved my way through the crowd. There was no doubt that he was my soulmate, the wands were never wrong, but that didn't mean I had to be stuck with him. There was no law saying I had to be with him.

I arrived home sometime in the early evening and I walked into the house just as my parents and my brother were settling down to have dinner in the dining room. I walked right past them and began marching up the stairs.

"Did you meet him, Rose?" I heard my mother call out from downstairs.

"No," I replied shortly, opened the door to my bedroom and slammed it shut behind me.

The barn owl in the cage by my window fluttered its wings, startled by my abrupt entrance. I collapsed onto my bed, just noticing that I had woken up the owl and it was now peering at me with what seemed like a look of annoyance.

"Sorry," I muttered quietly before rolling over to face the wall.

Somewhere between cursing Malfoy and hating myself, I drifted off to sleep, still wearing the outfit I had been wearing all day. I must have not been asleep for very long because when I awoke to the sound of a sharp rapping against glass, it was pitch dark outside now. My family must have gone to bed, they usually don't bother me when my door is shut.

The rapping sound continued, and I willed myself to climb out of bed and walked over to the window. Sitting on the window still was a dark colored owl, so dark that it had almost completely blended in with the dark sky. The window creaked slightly as I cracked it up enough to let the bird come in. A yellowed envelope was held tightly in its beak and it dropped it into my outstretched hand. It didn't fly off after delivering the letter which meant whoever the sender was, was expecting a reply right away.

I flipped the letter over and observed my first and last name was scrawled in elegant cursive across the back of the envelop. I had a feeling I knew who the letter was from and could already feel the level of irritation rising. I ripped open the envelop, not caring if I damaged the contents or not and withdrew the parchment.

_Dear Rose Weasley,_

_It's a bit daft to play hard to get when neither of us have any other choice. _

_Yours, _

_Scorpius Malfoy_

It was single handedly the most infuriating letter I had ever received. I crumpled up the stupid thing and tossed it in the nearby waste basket. The dark colored owl sitting on my window sill hooted expectantly. Instead of giving it a letter to return to Malfoy, I cracked the window open again and shooed it away.

"Tell your master to go fuck himself!" I shouted out the window at the retreating bird figure.

Unfortunately for me, owls don't normally understand English and it didn't inform its master of my outburst. By the end of the summer, I had a stack of unopened letters piled on my desk underneath the window where that stupid owl seemed to scratch at every day.

Each new letter flying through my window was just another reminder that soon I would head off to Hogwarts for my final year and I couldn't hide behind unanswered letters from the safety of my bedroom. I would have to see Malfoy in person. I avoided packing my things in my trunk until the last possible second just so I wouldn't have to come to terms with the miserable year I was facing.

I stood with Albus on the train platform, the station clouding up with smoke from the train. My ears were filled with the sounds of whistles, and shouting, and tearful goodbyes. I would never get to experience this again and I should have been taking in every last second, filing it away as permanent memories so I would never forget this important part of my life. I was too focused with scanning the crowd, looking out for a head of white blond hair.

So far so good.

"What's wrong, Rose? You've been awfully quiet the last few weeks. You can't be that sad already, we still have the whole school year!" Albus was chattering away in my ear and I was only half-listening.

I loved him to death but my sanity was at stake here. Ever since that day in June one of my biggest goals went from finding my soulmate to avoiding my soulmate.

The doors of the train opened and I silently thanked my parents for getting me out of bed early so I could grab a spot closest to the doors and be one of the first ones on. I pushed my way past other students while walking through the train cars, grabbing the first empty one I found. With my trunk safely stowed above me, and I sat down in one of the window seats with a sigh of relief.

Safe. Or so I thought, until the voice of Albus standing in the doorway brought me out of my state of relief.

"Rose? We have to go to the prefect meeting, remember?" he said. I must have made a distraught face because he continued prodding me. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," I sighed. "Let's go get this over with."

I didn't know who was the Head Boy and Girl this year but neither I nor Albus got the positions. I just hoped they weren't prats like last year's heads. Malfoy is also a prefect and they last thing I want to deal with is my insufferable soulmate and two incompetent idiots.

Albus slid the compartment door open and we were met with about twenty pairs of eyes. They had all taken their seats and looked rather squished as there wasn't much room for everyone. One seventh year girl from Ravenclaw was the only one standing, a Head Girl badge glimmered on her chest. Her partner, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Right, well," the Ravenclaw girl started. She didn't sound like she had much confidence in my opinion. "The Head Boy isn't here but I guess I can start without him?"

She sounded unsure and her eyes would occasionally glance at the compartment door as she spoke, like she was hoping this mystery Head Boy will swoop in and save her from the awkwardness she was suffering from. Scorpius Malfoy hadn't made an appearance yet and I could feel my stomach twist in knots at the mere thought that he could be the Head Boy. The Head Girl passed out pieces of parchment that had the train duties of each prefect listed on them. Just as I was about to reach out and grab my slip of parchment, the compartment door slid open with a tad too much force than necessary.

"Sorry, I'm late," the boy in the doorway drawled.

I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't seeing things but as the boy strode into the compartment, his head held high and his chest puffed out like a ridiculous peacock, my worst fears were confirmed. A shiny Head Boy badge hung off the haughty chest of Scorpius Malfoy. I lowered my head so I wouldn't have to meet his eyes and I was praying to every deity that he wouldn't single me out.

Malfoy walked over to his partner and snatched the piece of parchment out of her hands. His eyes scanned over it with a slight smirk and then peered at me when he was finished. He crumpled the parchment up and shoved it into his trousers' pocket.

"Don't give this one any assignments, I have something else in mind of her," he said, his grey eyes glittering.

I could feel my heart leap up into my throat and I tried to ignore the questioning looks I was receiving. Out of my peripherals, I could even see Albus looking at me. The Head Girl had her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as her eyes switched their focus between me and Malfoy before eventually just accepting what had happened and continued passing out the pieces of parchment.

"Actually, I think Weasley's duties begin right now," said Malfoy, reaching forward and grabbing my hands that were folded in my lap.

He yanked me forward and out of the compartment. My cheeks were burning and I knew I was going to face ever ending questioning from Albus later. Malfoy still had a tight hold on my hand as he led me past numerous other compartments. Anytime I tried to wrestle my hand free of his grip, he only held on with more force, making me feel weak and helpless.

He stopped in front of an empty compartment, slid the door open and thrust me inside, closing the door behind as he slipped in. Immediately after closing the door he closed all the blinds making the room much darker and he whirled around to face me, a triumph look on his face.

"Did you get my letters?" he asked.

"You embarrassed me in front of everyone and dragged me into an empty compartment to hold me hostage just so you could ask if I got your letters?" I was angry and y voice was cracking and probably sounded rather weak. "Yes, I got your bloody letters! And I burned them all as soon as I got them!"

"You burned them?" he raised an eyebrow at me. "What a shame, I had some really good lines in some of them."

I attempted to shove past him to try and escape through the door but his hands caught my wrist in a tight grip, tighter than the one he used to drag me in here. I struggled to get free but I had accomplished no such thing because now he had my back pressed up against the door and my wrists shackled in his hands. I glared at him, trying my hardest to give him the most intimidating look I could possibly muster. Instead of backing away like I had hoped, he merely smirked.

"It's a little hard to court your soulmate when she keeps trying to run away from you," he said, a hint of humor in his face.

"Take a hint then!"

"What part of you don't have any choice do you not understand?" he asked, his face coming to close to mine.

Before I could open my mouth, he pressed his lips to mine and kissed me. I didn't respond to his kisses, I just stood there while he attempted to achieve some kind of response. He pressed his lips harder to mine and his tongue gently caressed my bottom lip, trying to encourage me to kiss back but I held my ground. The second he pulled away the slightest millimeter, I reached out with my teeth and bite his lip as hard as I could.

He pulled away from me abruptly and I let his lip slide out from my teeth. I broke skin and blood was beginning to flow from his bottom lip. His hands released my wrists and he brought a finger up to his damaged lip and dabbed a bit of blood off of it to examine.

"Actually I do have a choice, Malfoy. It's either be with you or be alone, and quite frankly I'd rather be alone for the rest of my life," I said, feeling a rush of confidence.

I grabbed the door handle and thrust the compartment door open and left, leaving a surprised and slightly annoyed Malfoy alone in the compartment to deal with his wound.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for all the feedback! I decided to continue this story since I had more ideas planned out for it anyway. I should be updating fairly regularly. Hope you enjoy!**

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><p>The train came to a jerky halt and I gathered up my things and successfully managed to exit the train without coming across my lovely, dear soulmate. Albus, Lily, Hugo and I were able to grab the next empty carriage as it pulled up to the station. I always thought that the black wooden carriages were a bit spooky with the lamps hanging off the front of them and the fact that they drove themselves. The night was clear and cool and we were thankfully blessed with being able to have the tops of the carriage down. It was really stuffy and cramped when the tops were up during the poor weather and I'd almost rather be soaking wet with rain.<p>

I hoisted myself up and climbed into the carriage, sitting myself next to my brother Hugo. He kept looking back at the train as though he was looking for someone. I rolled my eyes. He was wondering where his soulmate was. How lucky of him that he ends up with a soulmate that isn't repulsive.

"So, Rose," Albus said, breaking the silence. I knew what was coming next and all I could think of was please no. "What did Malfoy want?"

Why? Why right now in front of my other cousin and brother?

"Prefect duty assignment," I replied, hoping that would be good enough for Albus even though I knew better.

"What _kind_ of assignment?" Albus asked innocently.

"A normal prefect one," I said coolly, ignoring the curious looks I was receiving from Lily and Hugo.

"I don't know, Rose. Seemed kind of important if Malfoy had to personally tell you it in private." Albus continued and I narrowed my eyes at him. I was not in the mood to deal with this.

"Ooh, Rose! Getting special assignments from Malfoy? Maybe he's your soulmate." Lily joined in with a wink and I could hear Hugo sniggered softly beside me.

"I don't have a soulmate," I said.

I moved my attentions to the passing trees and other carriages, pretending to be extremely interested in them even though I've seen the same scene every year. Maybe if I stare off into space long enough, my relatives will realize that it was time to shut up. Just as I had hoped, the three of them began a new conversation about Quidditch.

Albus was made Quidditch captain of the Gryffindor team and he played seeker just like my uncle did before him. All of us played on the Quidditch team last year and Albus made it abundantly clear that just because we were his family, that doesn't mean we have a spot reserved for us on the team. He said something about it looking suspiciously political having a team made up of Potters and Weasleys, but hey, there were a lot of us.

"When's tryouts?" I asked, curious. I personally played the keeper position like my dad and I heard a few rumors floating around that a new keeper was going to try and take my spot.

"Finished daydreaming about your soulmate, Rose?" Lily asked, smirking. I threw her a glare and glanced back to Albus.

"I don't know, sometime during the second week of school, like always. I have to check who has the pitch reserved when," Albus answered, biting back a laugh from Lily's previous comment.

"I don't think Malfoy is that bad," Hugo said.

"Oh, my God! Enough!" I crossed my arms and went back to staring intently at the other trees and carriages, feeling sorry that I even bothered to open my mouth.

The remaining carriage ride felt like it took forever for me but Hugo pointed out it had only been a ten minute ride. Leaving our trunks behind to be carried up to the Gryffindor common room, Albus, Lily, Hugo, and I shuttled into the Great Hall along with the rest of the students. We took our seats at the Gryffindor table and I eagerly awaited the sorting to begin, mostly because I was starving.

The first years were led into the Hall and they always looked smaller and more frightened with each passing year. One by one they were sorted to their new houses and I cheered loudly along with the rest of the Gryffindor house whenever we obtained a new member. Hardly any of the first years got sorted into Slytherin, but that's how it's been for years. Slytherin had the least amount of students.

Food finally appeared before me and I grabbed a pair of utensils, grabbed as much food as I could fit on my plate and dug in. I was so hungry due to missing lunch on the train because of Malfoy.

"Hungry, Rose?" Albus asked, laughing.

"Uh, yeah," I replied, my mouth full of food.

I couldn't shake the feeling I was being watched and eating while having someone watch you is not a comfortable thing. My eyes scanned the rest of Gryffindor table but everyone else seemed to involved with their food to even notice me. I braved a look at the Slytherin table and then quikly looked back down at my plate, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

Malfoy kept glancing over at me from his table. The unfortunate part about being aware that someone is watching you is that you can't help but to glance back and then that person thinks you're staring so they glance back and it's a never ending cycle. I tried my very hardest to keep my eyes trained on my plate, as though eating required a great deal of energy.

"You've been acting awfully strange, Rose," my brother whispered to me, noticing my staring contest with the treacle tart on my plate.

"I'm fine," I assured him.

As fine as I'll ever be.

The dishes vanished from all the tables, signaling the end of the feast. Albus and I rose from the table, along with the other four Gryffindor prefects and we began to lead the first years out of the Hall and up towards our common room.

I hung in the back of the pack to make sure we didn't have any stragglers and while I was approaching the door, I felt someone roughly run into my right shoulder. It actually was a little too rough and kind of hurt and I raised my hand to rub the shoulder to try and ease the pain. I looked around to see who the perpetrator was and the only potential culprit I found was Scorpius Malfoy.

"Really?" I mouthed to him and he merely shrugged, leading his own Slytherin first years out of the Hall and towards the dungeon.

I was so irritated that it felt like I was never going to not be irritated. All the irritation I was feeling was making it difficult to fall asleep which I desperately needed to do because I had N.E.W.T level potions first thing in the morning. I wanted to be well rested so I could fully focus in class and begin studying for the exams I'll have to take at the end of the year.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm down and stop thinking and maybe it would trick my brain into shutting off. Just think about nothing and soon I'll be asleep. Nothing.

_Scorpius Malfoy is in taking N.E.W.T level potions and he'll be in my class tomorrow._

I cursed myself for letting that damned boy invade my thoughts again. The night continued on with me trying so desperately to think of nothing and then an unnecessary thought would pop in my head. What if he tried to sit next to me? What if I don't have the right potion's materials? What if I can't make the potion correctly? What if he laughs at me?

Eventually, between the thought of what if Malfoy announces to the class that we're soulmates and trying to remember word for word what Golpalott's Third Law was, I finally had drifted off to sleep.

My eyes fluttered open in the morning and I felt a painful tightness in my neck and lower back. I had slept horribly last night. My eyes still felt heavy and it took all the energy I had to just keep them open. The dormitory was quiet and when I brought myself to sit up, ignoring my aching back pains, I realized I was alone.

I glanced over to my watch that was resting on my bedside table and felt a rising panic rush through my stomach. It was nine thirty-two.

I threw off all my covers and they landed somewhere on the floor at the end of my bed. I hurried to my trunk and whipped out my robes and tried to put them on as fast as I could but I stumbled over while trying to pull my sock up. My hair was wild and I knew running the brush hastily through it the few times I did didn't help tame it.

Nine thirty-five. My watch seemed to jeer at me and each tick of the second hand was a mocking laugh.

I tossed my book and all the potions materials I had into my bag. Hearing the glass clink together, I prayed that nothing broke but I was too frazzled to bother to check. I threw the bag over my shoulder and rushed out of the door, through the common room, and out through the portrait hall. My calves burned as I forced them to carry me faster down the stairwell. I stopped on the last step of the set of stairs, hopping up and down as if that would urge the staircase to move to the lower level faster.

"Come on, damn staircase," I muttered impatiently under my breath, cursing the magical, moving stairs.

They came to a jerky stop at the sixth floor and I didn't even wait for the stairs to touch the landing before jumping off and rushing down the next flight of stairs. The patterned continued for all seven floors, except for one set of stairs between the fourth and the fifth floors. I had to wait for that one to come get me, climb on, and then wait for it to descend again.

My feet echoed off the stone walls of the dungeon as I cursed Gyrffindor for having our common room on the seventh floor. I finally reached the potions classroom, my hand grasping around the brass handle and I swung the door open, catching a glimpse of the time from my watch that always rested on that particular wrist.

Nine forty-eight.

"Nice of you to join us, Miss Weasley," said the sharp voice of Professor Avis from the front of the classroom.

My classmates turned away from their open textbooks to stare at me with curiosity. Albus was seated at one of the tables in the back with another fellow Gryffindor. He raised an eyebrow at me when he took in my rumpled appearance. I shook my head and ignored him, scanning the rest of the classroom for a seat. It was then I noticed that nearly everyone had a partner except for two students, each sitting at a table with an empty chair next to them. One was a Hufflepuff girl who was infamous for her lack of hygiene and her nasty habit of wiping her nose on the back of her hand and robes constantly. Her name escaped me because everyone just referred to her as 'Snotty'. The other was, of course, Scorpius Malfoy.

"Sorry, professor," I said, winded from running through the entire castle.

Professor Avis was a short, rather unpleasant woman. Her grey hair was always pulled back into a sleek bun on the top of her head. She had very pointed facial features, particularly her nose, which resembled a bird's beak. Her voice was obnoxiously sharp and high, matching her bird-like appearance.

"Ten points from Gyrffindor! My class began eighteen minutes ago, Miss Weasley, this is unacceptable," she replied. "Sit down and open your book to page fifty-six to get caught up with the rest of the class."

It was the decision of my life. Do I sit next to the unhygienic girl and be disgusted and ridiculed for it later? Or do I sit next to Malfoy and deal with him trying to "court" me?

I dropped my bag next to the Hufflepuff girl. Maybe she was a nice girl and no one ever taught her that you can't wipe your snot on everything. She looked up at me in shock, surprised that anyone would ever willingly sit by her. I found myself wondering if she had found her soulmate yet and if she had better luck than me.

"Hi, I'm Rose," I whispered, smiling.

"Fiona," she whispered back, her voice was extremely nasally.

I guess a positive side of this decision would be the very strong immune system I surly would acquire from sitting next to this girl.

"What? Too good to sit next to your soulmate?"

My nightmares from last night were slowly coming true because there he was. Scorpius Malfoy sitting across the row from me, with that stupid smirk on his face, informing the room of our everlasting bond. I didn't even look at him and I cracked open my textbook to page fifty-six and began reading. Ah, memory potions. Classic and useful. I could use these while studying for my N.E.W.T exams.

"Mr. Malfoy, I know you're not finished with the reading and I highly suggest you get back to work. I don't need any more disruptions today," Professor Avis said.

I rolled my eyes. Professor Avis always favored her own house and God forbid she punishes the great Head Boy.

After everyone in the class finished the reading and looked up at the professor, she instructed us to concoct our own memory potion. I quickly grabbed all the materials I needed out of my bag. Thankfully none of my ingredients were crushed too badly from my earlier rush. Cauldron, scales, ladle, and I absolutely made sure the Jobberknoll feathers were there.

I got busy right away with the potion, determined to redeem myself and make the best memory potion out of the entire class. Then I would be rewarded the points I lost and everyone will forget about today's incident. Just I was stirring counter-clockwise for the sixth rotation, I noticed my table partner, who was working at a considerably slower pace, was slicing her roots at an angle.

"Oh, you're supposed to cut those in a straight line," I said.

"I want to cut them this way," Fiona said.

"But the book—"

"I don't care what the book says," she said before I could finish and continued to slice the roots at an angle.

I shrugged her off and went back to my potion. If she wanted to ruin her potion then that was not my business, I decided. I added my properly sliced roots to the potion and the liquid bubbled and turned a pale purple. The potion should've been a light turquoise at this point, not pale purple.

Frowning, I flipped through my textbook and sure enough I did exactly what the book said. I went on the safe side and added a slightly smaller amount of roots, so I added a pinch more. The potion turned a dull brown inside of the turquoise I was hoping for. It started to smell rancid, which was odd because normally memory potions don't have a smell.

I discreetly snuck a peek at Fiona's potion and sure enough it was the light turquoise the book described. She wiped her sleeve under her nose as she finished stirring, making a disgusting noise to go with it.

"How…?" I gestured to her cauldron.

"If you cut the roots at an angle they mix better with the feathers," she responded, capping a flask of memory potion she had taken from her cauldron and leaving her seat to place it on the professor's desks with the others.

"Miss Weasley, this won't do." Professor Avis swooped by my table and eyed my potion with disappointed. With a flick of her wand, my cauldron was empty and she strode away.

Sighing, I began to pack up my materials back into my bag. I counted the amount of successful flasks sitting on Professor Avis' desk. There were twelve beautiful turquoise potions. There were fifteen students in this class so I guess on the bright side, I wasn't the only one who failed.

"Is Malfoy really your soulmate?" Fiona suddenly asked while packing up her own things. I assumed she was just trying to make conversation and with his earlier outburst I wasn't surprised that she was curious.

"No," I scoffed. No one had to know, I just had to make it look like Malfoy was obsessed with me and that he was mental.

She raised an eyebrow at me and for a moment I thought she was going to call me out on my lie. She didn't and I was relieved that she didn't. However, she wasn't quite done interrogating me and I was growing annoyed because Malfoy was the last topic I wanted to discuss with this girl who wasn't even my friend. Though if she wanted to know when was the proper time to use a tissue, I would be happy to have that discussion with her.

"Why do you not like him?" she inquired.

"You know, Fiona. I think I'll save that for another day," I said with a polite smile and I slung my bag over my shoulder.

I followed the rest of my classmates out the door, successfully managing to get myself behind Malfoy so he couldn't harass me on the way out. I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned to see Albus smiling brightly.

"I managed to get the pitch the second Saturday of school!" he exclaimed and pulled out a piece of parchment. "And good thing too. Look how many people are signed up for tryouts!"

There were a lot of names on the parchment and I felt my stomach tighten at the sight of not just one additional name under the keeper title, but two. Two people were going to try and claim my spot on the team and I suddenly wished I had practiced more over this summer. I hardly paid attention to Albus' excited babbling about the upcoming tryouts. Once we climbed up the stairs and made it to the ground floor, he ran off to go to his next class and I was left alone.

I was just about to climb the main staircase to go to the library and get started on the massive essay Professor Avis assigned on our way out the door, when I felt a pair of strong hands grip my shoulder. The owner of the hands breath was warm against my ear and I felt my body uncomfortably stiffen.

"You know, I would've been happy to help you with the memory potion if you had chosen to sit with me," Malfoy said in my ear. "I mean, you are my—"

"Don't," I said sharply and he sniggered.

His hands slid off my arms and he let me go. He must have hung back and waited for me and Albus to walk past so he could come up behind me like that. I saw his figure begin to retreat out of the corner of my eye but then he paused and turned around.

"Before I forget, Weasley. As much as I enjoy lip biting, how about being a little gentler next time?" He smirked and strode back towards the dungeons.

"There won't be a next time!" I shouted after him but he ignored me and soon was out of sight.

Next time, my ass.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you for all the favorites and story alerts last chapter, and as always, feedback is more than welcome and appreciated. I'd love to hear what you think :)_

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><p>I was so nervous, I was clutching my broom so hard my knuckles were turning white. I could barely hold the broom steady and the harsh wind wasn't helping either. The Saturday Albus had signed up for tryouts was a cold and windy one. Coldest day of the school year so far. That didn't stop the overwhelming amount of hopefuls make it out onto the pitch this morning.<p>

They were all grouped up in a pack and the chattering was so loud it was just a constant drone. Albus was still dragging out Quidditch supplies. I offered to help so I wouldn't have to stand here so awkwardly but he declined. Lily and Hugo were having their own conversation outside of the large group a little ways away from me. Lily's head was held up high and Hugo laughed freely. Both of them clearly displaying more confidence than I felt.

"Alright, you lot! Shut it!" Albus shouted over the loud chatter. "Spilt into groups based on what position you're trying out for! We aren't looking for seekers so if that's what you're here for, then shove off!"

There were a handful of people who slinked away after Albus made the last statement. Yeah, like the captain himself was going to give up his position. The remaining people clumped together, trying to form groups but it just looked like a disaster to me. Albus seemed to realize this too and he rushed over and started to forcefully direct people. There were only two other people trying out for the keeper position, both of them boys, and I went to stand by them.

One was a sixth year by the name of William Finnegan and he smiled widly at me when I walked over. His sandy blond hair was swept in his eyes and had the same air of confidence I noticed from Lily and Hugo. The other boy was smaller in stature, had darker features and I wasn't quite sure of who he was. He didn't greet me as warmly as the first boy, instead he just gave a rather meek smile and then continued to stare at his feet.

William attempted to make conversation with me several time while the trials for the new chasers were going on. I was so nervous I could only spit out one word answers which ultimately crushed all potential conversations. The other boy was just as quiet as me and, unless I was just seeing things, possibly a tad more anxious. Usually talking helped me calm down but everything William was interested in talking about was how much he trained over the summer and how badly he wanted this spot.

The chasers were chosen and it was no surprise that Lily was the first chosen after the fantastic flying display she had put on. The other two were a boy and girl, both from fifth year and both were also excellent fliers. I should've been excited for my cousin, and I was, but with the chaser trials ending that meant the keeper trials were just about to start.

"Would you like to go first, Rose?" asked Albus, after explaining the drill he was going to have us do.

"I—uh—sure," I responded.

I gripped my broom handle and floated up to the rings and took my position. All I had to do was block as many shots as I could out of ten. That's it, I could do it. Maybe Lily would go a little easier on me since she was my cousin.

Albus blew his whistle and as soon as he did, the Quaffle whizzed past my ear and went straight through the center hoop. I barely registered what happened and then I realized, seeing Lily flying off, that my own cousin pelted a fast one at me. I could feel my nerves started to work up again. I only had nine more goals left.

I didn't have much a problem with the shots from the two outside chasers. They both tossed three each at me and I blocked them all except the girl's last one. Lily came streaking up the middle again and I just barely knocked the Quaffle out of the way with just the tips of my fingertips. My final score was an eight of ten, which wasn't my best score but I was content with it at the moment.

I floated back down to the ground and Albus gave me a pat on the back and told me good job. William soared right up to the goal posts the second I touched down. It was like this position was effortless to him and he managed to block the shots from the outside chasers with no problem. He only let one of Lily's shots go in and I felt discouraged as he came back down. He scored higher than me and that most likely meant he would get the position.

"So when's the first day of practice?" William asked the second he touched down. His hair wild and he had a huge smile on his face. Albus ignored him.

The other boy wasn't really much to watch. He was so nervous that he nearly fell off his broom and he tossed the Quaffle back too hard, it rammed the boy chaser, Smith I think Albus said his name was, in the nose. He only scored a six out of ten and it was obvious that William was a clear choice for the position.

"Alright, thanks for trying out! You all did fine and I hate singling one person out. Welcome back, Rose! And congratulations, Finnegan, you're our reserve keeper," Albus said and then looked to the other keeper hopeful. "Sorry, mate."

I narrowed my eyes at Albus. I knew I didn't win that spot fairly and William knew too because he had a bewildered, yet disheartened look on his face as he walked over to sit with the rest of the new team in the stands to watch the trials for the beaters. Just as Albus was about to turn away and begin the beater trials, I reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Albus," I hissed. "I don't deserve that spot and you know it. What happened to not wanting to look political and favoring your family?"

"I thought Finnegan was a bit of a git." He shrugged. "Uncle Ron would hang me from the highest tree if I didn't let you back on the team, especially if I had replaced you with that prat."

He walked away and I exited the field to go up into the stands to join my fellow team. Anyone with eyes could clearly see that I had only gotten this spot because Albus was my cousin and that made me feel awkward and a bit guilty, quite frankly. Lily, being the social butterfly she was, was already engaging the two other chasers in conversation. The reserves seemed to feel like that would not be included in their conversation and were having their own in the seats behind them with William. William was quiet and didn't have the air of confidence he had earlier anymore.

I sat a couple of rows behind the two groups and I watched the beaters trial with mild amusement. There were a lot of boys who came out for tryouts and Hugo was one of them. I smiled to myself as I watched my brother soar through the air, looking like he was having the time of his life. Out of all of us, he probably loved Quidditch the most.

"Nice flying, Weasley," a voice behind me said nonchalantly, dragging me out of my thoughts. I knew who it was and I was already annoyed. Where did he come from?

"You can't be here!" I exclaimed as I whirled around to glare at Malfoy. He merely smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "No, really! You can't be here! Captains can't observe other team's tryouts."

"It's funny that you assume that I'm captain," he said.

"I _assumed_ because they handed you Head Boy so why not hand you every other title?"

"I'd hate to dispute your assumption, but I'm not a Quidditch captain," he said, laughing slightly and I could feel my cheeks grow hot with embarrassment. "Although I am a returning chaser."

"You still can't be here," I mumbled, crossing my arms and turning my face away so he couldn't see my red cheeks.

"Potter didn't seem to mind." I stopped responding and instead mentally started cursing Albus for letting this prat sit in the stands.

Thankfully Malfoy ceased talking as well, but he was still uncomfortably close to me in the seat behind me. I could occasionally feel his knee graze against my back anytime he adjusted himself in his seat. I tried my hardest to focus on the beaters tryout, but I would occasionally glance at Malfoy out of the corner of my eye. He wasn't directly behind me, he sat a little more too my left, so I could clearly make out his face when I made one of these short glances. He had his arm resting on his left knee, propping his head up under his chin and he seemed to genuinely be interested in whatever was happening on the pitch. His cheeks were pink and his hair was disheveled, both from the harsh winds.

I turned my attention beack to the pitch and scolded myself for giving Malfoy more attention than he deserved. My brother had already finished his and will probably resume his position as the blind side beater. There was another boy who stood out to me, as well, and would probably be an excellent choice for the other beater.

"I think it's funny how I'm a chaser and you're a keeper in Quidditch and then in real life I'm chasing you and you're cock-blocking me," Malfoy said casually.

"Don't start," I said shortly, trying not to look at him.

"I think after today, though, it's evident that you're not the best keeper around. So eventually I'll score. When do you reckon—"

He didn't finish his sentence because my hand came in contact with the side of his face and I hit him, as hard as I could, with a stinging slap. He held his own hand up to his cheek to nurse it with mild surprise on his face. The sound of the slap was loud and I soon had the rest of my teammates, including the reserves, staring at us. I caught Lily's eye and she gave me a knowing wink and a thumbs up.

"Abusing your own soulmate, Weasley," Malfoy said loud enough for our audience to hear, rubbing the side of his face. "That's a tad low, don't you think?"

"Leave." I pointed to the stairs that led to the ground. Malfoy stood up and held his hands as a surrendering gesture.

"Tell your brother I said congratulations," he said in a softer tone and then descended down the stairs and out of sight.

The two beaters, my brother being one of them, joined us in the stands followed by the reserve beaters and Ablus. He gave the usual congratulatory speech that the present Quidditch captain gives every year, making remarks about how we all earned this position and he expected us to work hard. I could feel William Finnegan glaring at me as Albus spoke these words and I suddenly wanted nothing more than to escape back into the warm castle. The cold and the uncomfortable situation I was in was starting to eat me alive.

I was the first one out of the stands when Albus released us, informing us that our first real practice day would be next Saturday after the Slytherins have their practice. Gryffindor vs Slytherin is always the first match of the year in November and I was already dreading playing against Malfoy. I've played against him before but now anything that had to do with him just seemed dreadful.

My ears started stinging once I got inside the castle and I had to get used to the huge temperature difference. I was still in my sweaty Quidditch robes and I'm sure I smelled less than pleasant after working my ass off and then sitting in my own sweat for an hour outside. The others went to the locker room to shower but I really just needed to get away from people for a while and opted for showering in the common room. I thought about retreating to the Prefect's bathroom but with the tub so out in the open like it was, I really wasn't in the mood for walking in on someone naked.

As I was marching down the corridor, I felt a warm arm slip around my shoulders and began to guide me in a different direction. Seriously? Twice in one day?

"I forgot to give you your Prefect's schedule Weasley, what with you abusing me and all…Merlin, is that smell coming from you?" Malfoy withdrew his arm and his face twisted in disgust, like he had just smelled the most horrible smell on the planet.

"Smelling bad generally happens after one plays Quidditch and sits outside for an extended amount of time," I responded, feeling too tired to deal with his snide comments.

"I don't smell _this _awful when I play," he said and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm sure you don't. I heard instead of sweat, you secrete fairy dust. Just give me the damn schedule and leave," I said and held out my hand.

He handed over the piece of parchment and my eyes scanned it over. That bloody git had me doing late night shifts for the entire month of October including Halloween. I looked up from the parchment and raised an eyebrow at him.

"That Halloween shift is an important one," he said, as though he could read my thoughts. "I can't tell you how many busts on those stupid Weasley Wizard Wheezes products."

"That's my family's shop, Malfoy," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

"They're still banned." He shrugged.

"I'm not doing all these night shifts," I said, handing back the parchment. "I need time to study for my exams."

"Fine, I can take you off some of them, but you're still doing the Halloween one. Besides, I'll be helping out that night and how could you pass up more time with your soulmate?" he winked.

"I know we're soulmates, stop mentioning it all the time!" I snapped at him.

"I'm just merely reminding you since you seem so keen on ignoring the fact," he said smirking. "You should tie your hair back more often, by the way. I think it looks nice."

He didn't give me a chance to respond because he continued down the corridor, leaving me standing there. I ripped the hair tie out, letting my tangled auburn hair fall down my back. I am never tying my hair back again, I decided and then resumed my initial path back to the Gryffindor common room.

The common room was empty as it usually is on a Saturday afternoon and I had the showers all to myself which I took full advantage of. I had a habit of taking obnoxiously long showers at home and I wasn't able to do that here at Hogwarts without someone screaming at me to hurry up. The warm water heated my body up and washed away the grim and sweat that had collected on my skin. I stayed in the shower extra-long, not wanting to leave the warm environment but I eventually forced myself to turn the water off.

I dressed myself and returned to the main common room because I was planning on curling up by the fire and start researching for my Transfiguration essay that was due two weeks from now. Lily was already there, sprawled out on the couch, her red hair was damp from her own shower. She met my eyes and waved, sitting up to give me a spot on the couch.

"Did you have a nice afternoon with your boyfriend?" she asked, playfully nudging my shoulder.

"Lily, please no more. I don't think this is funny," I said.

"Sorry, Rose," she replied. "Just having some fun. I mean you're the only one out of all of us who hasn't found their soulmate, so I was just wondering—"

"He's not my soulmate," I said, cutting her off. "Can we talk about something else?"

She nodded and started to excitedly talk about the up and coming Quidditch season. That seemed to be the go to conversation for my brother and cousins and I felt like that was all we talked about. I was only half listening to Lily and I wondered if we were ever going to have more to talk about after school or if I was ever going to become close with their soulmates. Were they ever going to become close with my soulmate? Then I stopped myself because I had forgotten.

I wasn't going to have a soulmate to introduce them to.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you for reading, reviewing, faving, and alerting the last chapter! Hope you enjoy this chapter! Life is getting a bit busy right now but I'm doing my best to keep up and I appreciate your patience!_

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><p><em>Congratulations to Mister Thomas Walker (age 32) and Miss Olivia Wood (age 29) on their happy engagement following the 23<em>_rd__ annual match-making event which took place this last June. Their wedding day is set for the 31__st__ of December. The couple chose the date so they can begin the New Year as husband and wife. The annual match-making event continues to successfully pair everlasting, happy couples. Mark your calendars for the next upcoming match-making date: 15__th__ of June, 2024._

_Congratulations to the following couples who also have upcoming wedding dates:_

_Melinda Harris and Isabella Wilson- 5__th__ of November_

_Roy Edwards and Liliana Green- 12__th__ of November_

_Edward Michaels and Emma Lewis- 15__th__ of November_

_John Turner and Michael Elliot- 20__th__ of November_

_Christopher Morris and Mary Belby- 1__st__ of December_

_Henry Edgecombe and Elizabeth Cattermole- 7__th__ of December_

_Frank Jones and Anne-Marie Buchanan- 20__th__ of December_

_If you and your soulmate are interested in having your wedding day announced, please send your date by owl to our editor's office in Diagon Alley no later than the 31__st__ of December if you would like to see your date appear with the next set of announcements. There are six wedding announcements each year, each announcement covering the next two upcoming months. _

"Did you read today's paper, Lily?" I asked in an attempt to make conversation, looking up from my copy. Lily was sitting in one of the large armchairs opposite from me and seemed to be extremely involved in her Charms textbook.

"No, not yet. Anything good?" she asked absentmindedly, not even bothering looking up from her textbook. I didn't really blame her, she too had huge exams she needed to study for.

"Not really," I sighed. "Just this month's marriage announcements, really." The printed image of a man and woman stared back at me. They were arm in arm and their faces shone with absolute happiness. The woman's engagement ring glittered brightly as the couple swayed, even though it was only a newspaper image. I felt a nagging sense of longing as I looked at the picture but quickly shoved the thought to the back of my mind.

"How exciting," Lily responded and it was clear that she was paying no attention to me.

I've tried to get her attention multiple times in the past hour and haven't been successful. My hair could've burst into flames and she would have paid me no mind. I felt somewhat cut off and disconnected from people and I was beginning to feel lonely. I guess that's what I deserved for making my relatives my only friends and putting all my energy into my studies and Quidditch.

"Do you ever wonder if these people are genuinely happy with their soulmates?" I asked, glancing back down at the smiling couple again. "Are you happy?"

"Yes," she replied as she finally peered at me over the pages of her textbook.

Out of the four of us, being Albus, Hugo, Lily, and I, I would say Lily got the luckiest. Her soulmate was one of the Scamander twins. I believe it was Lysander, but both boys looked and acted so similar that it was difficult to tell them apart. He was a year younger than her and quite frankly a bit immature as most fourteen year-old boys usually were, but Lily seemed to enjoy his company. I saw them talking a lot and whenever she needed to talk to someone, he was the one she would go to. I envied her because I wished I had someone like that who I could go to when I needed to talk.

"Do you love him?" I asked.

"Yes, but not in the sense you're probably thinking," she said. I raised an eyebrow at her and she continued. "Being someone's soulmate doesn't mean you're obligated to be involved with them romantically. Lysander understands me more than anyone else, but I don't see myself being attracted to him."

"I think this whole soulmates thing is stupid," I stated and crumpled up the newspaper and tossed it aside. "I can pick my best friends and lovers on my own."

She glanced down at her feet where the crumpled up newspaper lay and she leaned forward to pick it up, smoothing it out. Her eyes scanned over the printed words quickly then peered at me over the paper. I knew she was looking at the page with the happy couple because that was the page I still had open before I ruined it. She held the paper close to her face and I could only see her eyes but there was enough emotion shining through them that I could tell she was amused with me.

"You never used to be so against soulmates before, Rose," she commented and I merely shrugged. "I distinctly remember you asking me at the beginning of the summer to help pick out a dress so you could look nice for whomever your soulmate may have been."

"I've changed my mind," I muttered.

Lily shrugged and crumpled up the paper again, tossed it into the fire, and reopened her textbook to continue studying. The embers swallowed up the newspaper, the edges turned black and the words were no longer legible. The flames ate up the picture of the man and woman, who still swayed back and forth, completely unaware that their image was being consumed. Soon all was left of it was a pile of ash.

My cousin and I sat in silence for I didn't know how long. I had spaced out staring at the flames and I was shaken out of my daydreaming by Lily climbing out of her chair. She packed up her school things back into her back and slung it over her shoulder.

"I'm going to the library," she said. She looked as though she had something else to say to me and that she was arguing with herself about whether or not to tell me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, hoping to prompt her into telling me about whatever it was she was thinking about.

"Dad overheard at the Ministry before school started that they were thinking about abolishing the soulmates law. I don't know any more than that but since you have a newfound disinterest in soulmates, I thought you'd be happy to hear," she replied.

Lily didn't wait for me to reply, she marched out of the common room without another word. I supposed I should have been pleased to hear news like that. I wouldn't have to be stuck with Malfoy for the rest of my life, which is what I wanted. For some reason the news didn't put me in a better mood. This was what I wanted, right?

I didn't have class that and I spent the entire day leading up to the Halloween feast in the common room, bored out of my mind. I rarely moved from the maroon armchair I was perched on, my textbooks and homework lay untouched at my feet. I didn't know if it was the weather or the fact that this was my last year at Hogwarts, but my motivation to do my school-work was decreasing more and more each day. Mum would be disappointed.

"Come on, Rose! We're going to be late for the feast!" my brother exclaimed, coming up behind my chair and shaking my shoulders.

"What time is it?" I asked, pulling back my robe sleeve to look at my watch and answer my own question.

"Time for the feast!" Hugo came around from the back of the chair to stand in front of me, grabbing my arm before I could even register what my watch said.

I couldn't help but smile to myself as Hugo dragged me out of the common room and down the stairs. Halloween was our favorite holiday and the elaborate feast Hogwarts held on this day every year was the best feast, in my opinion. I felt a slight pang of sadness when I realized that this would be my last ever Halloween feast at Hogwarts.

There were already tons of people in the Great Hall. The Great Hall had be decorated with the usual live bats and bright orange streamers that cascaded from the walls. There were large pumpkins littered all over the Hall, each one of them had a different face carved into their surface and they glowed brightly from the lanterns placed inside them. There were numerous cauldrons laid out on the tables already, which were full of colorful lollipops.

I took my seat at the Gryffindor table, and Hugo followed. His arms were already full of candy that he had snatched from the cauldrons. I scolded him for eating candy before dinner, and he merely shrugged, his mouth full of the sugary sweets. I was looking forward to the carrot cake that would be presented at the end for desert and what kind of end-of-the-feast entertainment the Headmaster had planned for us.

The Great Hall was full of people and dinner finally appeared before us. I took a generous helping of everything I could grab in front of me. As I was eating, I noticed Hugo looking up from his plate quite often and I looked up too to see what had caught his interest. He was gazing over at the Ravenclaw table and I knew right away that he was trying to catch the eye of his soulmate, who he absolutely adored.

She was very pretty, maybe a little too pretty for my brother and if it wasn't for the fact that they had matching wands, I doubt she would ever give him the time of day. He finally caught her eye and waved to her a tad too enthusiastically. She gave him a half-smile and returned his wave, although hers was much less enthusiastic and was more of just raising her hand briefly than a wave. Hugo beamed, and went back to his food, his posture slightly more confident than before. If I was heartless, I would've told Hugo a long time ago that she wasn't really interested in him but Hugo will always believe what he wants.

Dinner was finished and the Hall was suddenly filled with loud chatter as everyone waited for their desert. I made sure to save plenty of room for the carrot cake because I was probably never going to be able to eat carrot cake as delicious as the cake Hogwarts serve again after this year.

"Are you forgetting something, Weasley?" a voice behind me drawled lazily. "Your prefect duties began five minutes ago."

I turned around in my seat and made eye contact with Scorpius Malfoy. He was standing there lazily, his arms crossed over his chest and his Head Boy badge was gleaming on his chest. He glanced at his watch, as if to make a point that again that I was late and he was impatient. I rose from the table and grabbed a fistful of his robes and dragged him away from the Gryffindor table and out of earshot of my curious, eavesdropping family members.

"Since when does Halloween prefect duties begin in the middle of the feast?" I spat.

"Since now," he said, holding his arm up that had his watch on.

"What about desert and the ending entertainment?" I asked, hoping he would let me return to my table. "You owe me the world's best carrot cake for this!"

"And the world's best carrot cake I will buy for you, darling," he drawled with a smirk.

"No pet names," I hissed, letting go of his robes as we exited the Great Hall.

He ignored me and continued down the corridor with me following behind. It was quiet except the sound of our footsteps echoing as we walked. Malfoy hardly spoke and I wasn't particularly complaining. I wasn't about to start a conversation with him either in fear that it would only encourage him to say infuriating things. My mind kept drifting back to what Lily had said earlier about the Ministry getting rid of soulmates. I still hadn't decided how I felt about that.

He didn't tell me why we had to leave the feast so early either, and again, I wasn't about to ask. The corridors were dead because everyone was gathered in the Great Hall. Except we did come across a couple of third year boys playing with Fanged Frisbees on the fourth floor. Malfoy snatched them right out of their hands and instructed them to get back to the Great Hall or else he would severely punish them.

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" I said. "There were just having fun."

"I don't bloody care," he responded and held up the growling Frisbee. "These aren't allowed."

"See this is one of the reasons why I don't like you," I remarked and he raised an eyebrow at me but said nothing.

There was a brief period of time where the corridors flooded with younger students and I assumed that meant the feast had concluded. I overheard one girl tell her friend that this year's carrot cake was the best one yet and I mentally cursed Malfoy for ruining my Halloween. I sat down on a nearby bench to rest because my feet were aching from all the constant walking Malfoy was making me do. Soon the corridors were emptied and the quiet returned.

"No sitting on the job, Weasley," Malfoy said. "We have to start our rounds over now since everyone is in bed."

"Couldn't you find someone else to take the Halloween duties?" I moaned.

"Clearly not since I'm here with you and not another prefect," he said and marched down the stairs to the main floor.

It was dark now with only dim lanterns on the walls to light the way. I wasn't used to covering night shifts and I stumbled slightly through the dark, hoping that Malfoy didn't see. He led me down a staircase that was just off the entrance to the Great Hall to the basement. I didn't bother to ask him why he was leading me down here because he hadn't been very helpful with any of my earlier questions. The only things down here was the kitchen and I vaguely remember hearing that the Hufflepuff common room was down here somewhere.

"You said you wanted carrot cake, right?" he asked, turning to look at me and I nodded.

There was a large painting of a bowl of fruit at the end of the hall and Malfoy reached out and touched the pear. It took me a second to realize that he was actually tickling the pear and for a moment I thought Malfoy had lost it. It squirmed and giggled before transforming itself into a green door knob. Malfoy turned the door knob and opened the door, holding it open and gesturing for me to go in first. My ears were met with the sound of squeaks as a bunch of little house elves ran forward to see who came to visit. They peered up at me with orb-like eyes with curiosity.

"The lady requests cake," Malfoy announced from the doorway.

The elves, who were all too happy to serve, scampered off and then returned with two plates of carrot cake. They placed them on the table along with forks as I sat down in one of the wooden chairs.

"Thank you," I said and then looked back at Malfoy. "Is this allowed?"

"Who cares? I'm Head Boy and Malfoys always settle their debts," he stated and sat down on the other wooden chair, not touching the cake that was laid out before him.

My fork sliced through the creamy icing and moist cake with ease. I scarfed it down, happy that I wasn't going to go a Halloween without carrot cake. I was almost finished with it when I noticed that Malfoy had still not touched his own cake was smirking at me with amusement as he watched me eat mine. I suddenly felt self-conscious and forced myself to take smaller bites.

"I don't like cake," he said when he noticed that I kept glancing at his untouched piece. He pushed the plate forward towards me. "You can have it if you want."

"No, I'm full." I shook my head.

"What a waste," he said.

"Actually I thought it smelled kind of funny," I said, a house elf rushing past to clear my plate and I thanked him for it.

"Funny how?" Malfoy asked.

"I don't know, just smell it for me and tell me what you think," I replied, pushing the plate of cake back towards him.

He leaned forward, looking slightly curious and smelled the piece of cake. Just as he put his head close to the plate, I placed my hand on the back of his head and pushed it down, smothering his face with the cake. It was trick I learned from my Uncle George and one I fell victim to many times when I was younger. His head shot up immediately and he had the creamy icing all over his face. Some even got in his hair. I sniggered at the sight and I couldn't believe that he fell for such an old trick.

"Thanks," he said unamused. He reached over and grabbed a dish rag and wiped the cake off of his face.

Once his face was clean, he stood up from his chair, the legs of the chair shrieking against the wooden floor. We walked back up the stairs to the main floor to continue our rounds, which were rather uneventful. Malfoy still didn't talk much and I just assumed it was because he was tired and probably a little annoyed with me for the cake incident. Maybe if the Ministry didn't abolish the law, Malfoy and I could be good friends like Lily and Lysander. That wouldn't be as bad as having to marry that prat. We were wandering down the fifth floor corridor and I was still lost in thought when there was a sudden soft thud. I jumped and gasped at the noise, but Malfoy just stood there, still calm.

"Aren't Gryffindors supposed to be brave?" he mocked.

"That doesn't mean things can't startle me!"

I peered around the corner where the noise came from to see what it was. A boy had his back pressed against the stone wall and his lips were locked with the girl in front of him, who was nearly a head shorter than him. They were in the middle of a heated snogging session and I blushed at the scene. I also felt a slight feeling of jealousy even but I brushed it off.

"What is it?" Malfoy asked.

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing," I lied but he didn't look very convinced.

He pushed past me and rounded the corner but the couple were so involved in each other they didn't even notice they had an audience. Malfoy cleared his throat loudly but the couple didn't break apart. I was suddenly fully aware of how awkward this situation was and retreated back around the corner.

"Oi!"

I could hear startled gasps and Malfoy scolding them for being out past curfew. He docked points from each of them and the couple rounded the corner and rushed past me, thoroughly embarrassed. Malfoy followed closely behind and watch them disappear down the corridor. I felt sympathy towards the pair. I couldn't imagine how awkward it would be being caught snogging like that by the Head Boy and being punished for it.

"That could be us if you didn't have such a huge stick up your arse," Malfoy stated casually, tucking his hands away in the pockets of his robes.

"No, Malfoy, that will not be us," I snapped, feeling my blush from earlier grow deeper.

"It already happened once," he said and winked.

"Are you kidding me? Just when I thought we were going to go a day without your stupid comments, you start pulling this shit!" Just when I was considering being your friend, I thought, but I kept that thought to myself.

"Keep your voice down, darling," he responded.

"I said no pet names! Did you forget to be a prat tonight and now you're trying to make it all up in the next five minutes?"

He didn't respond, instead he sat down on a nearby bench and started picking at the Fanged Frisbee he confiscated earlier. The Frisbee growled and tried to nip at his fingertips, but he pulled them away. I watched him, hoping that he wouldn't pull them away in time and that the Frisbee would tear his fingers off.

"What else don't you like about me?" he asked, not looking at me. I was confused for a moment and then I realized he was referencing my comment from earlier when he had first confiscated the Frisbee.

"You're vain, and selfish, and rude to me!" I exclaimed, my voice was still a little too loud. "Whose arse did you kiss for that badge, anyway?"

"I earned it," he said, his fingers tracing the outline of his Head Boy badge. "My mother was Head Girl her seventh year. First Slytherin to be made Head Girl in ages, actually. Barely passed her N.E. because she was so determined to prove herself after the war and spent more time on her Head Girl duties than her grades."

"As touching as that is, Malfoy, I didn't ask for your mother's life story," I said and he looked a bit surprised at my statement.

"And I'm the rude one? I'm merely just making polite conversation," he said. "Maybe you're the rude one, always shooting me down and such."

"There's loads of people who think you're unpleasant!" I exclaimed.

"Name three," he challenged, a smirk forming on his face and the atmosphere between us suddenly felt very tense.

"Well, me, for starters. My dad is another one and…Fiona," I listed, hoping he couldn't pick up on the uncertainty in my voice but his amused expression told me he had.

"So you, your father, and the girl who can't seem to use a tissue to save her life? Those are some credible sources, Weasley."

I could feel my face begin to heat up again, thankful it was poorly lit in the corridor so Malfoy wouldn't be able to see. His triumph expression and posture was infuriating, but I had nothing else to say. Maybe I was the rude and irrational one.

No, I wasn't. He was the one who was manipulative, vain, and unpleasant. My fists clenched together and I stood there rigidly. I was furious at him for trying to put the blame of his actions on me. That damn smirk of his wasn't helping either and I was so tired of him laughing at everything I said or did. I was tired of him and I found myself practically praying now for the rumor about the change of laws to be true.

I glanced down at my watch and felt a small surge of relief when I noticed that it said it was midnight. Midnight meant that this was the end of the shift and I could go back to the Gryffindor common room and not have to deal with the infuriating boy in front of me. I hadn't noticed that Malfoy had actually gradually gotten closer to me the more I stood there and thought about how angry I was until his body was a mere few centimeters away from mine.

"It's midnight," I stated, looking up at him. He was quite a bit taller than me.

"So all I have to do to win my own soulmate over is to be less testy than her?" he questioned, ignoring my announcement of the time.

"I don't know why you want to win me over so bad," I said, taking a step back to put space in between us but he just stepped forward so I didn't succeed in making more space anyway.

"There are many things you don't know, which I know must be hard for someone like you. I tried to open up to you only moments ago and you were, how did you describe me? You were _rude_." His body was almost touching mine, his hand just barely brushed the exposed skin on my arm. "So I guess you'll have to figure things out on your own."

"I'm going to bed," I declared, and turned on my heel and strode away from him, walking as fast as I could without it looking like I was trying to run away.

"Goodnight, _Rose_."


End file.
